Men's Basketball

No. 3 men's hoops knocks off top-ranked Amherst, 72-62

Dec 08, 2007

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's basketball
team put four starters in double figures as the Judges, ranked No.
3 in the nation by d3hoops.com, never trailed in the second half as
they upended No. 1 Amherst College, 72-62, in Red Auerbach Arena
tonight.

Brandeis (8-1) and Amherst (6-1), playing in front of a packed
crowd estimated at 1,750, played a back-and-forth affair in the
first 20 minutes. The first half featured 9 ties and 7 lead
changes, with the largest advantage at 27-23 for the visitors.
Amherst took a 29-28 lead on a lay-up by senior forward Fletcher
Walters with 1:51 left before intermission, but the hosts answered
with 7 seconds on the clock. With the shot clock winding down,
senior guard Kwame Graves-Fulgham (Amherst, Mass.) drove the lane
for a lay-up and was fouled. He converted the free throw and the
Judges took a 31-29 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, Brandeis opened the scoring with two Stephen
Hill (Brighton, Mass.) free throws, but Amherst senior Andrew Olson
answered with his first hoop of the game, followed by a Walters
jumper to knot the game at 33-33 at 18:27. The Judges answered with
hoops by junior Kevin Olson (Rockport, Mass.) and senior Joe
Coppens (Rockland, Mass.) to go back ahead by four. After the teams
traded hoops on the next four possessions, Brandeis had the key
exchange. With the Judges leading 41-37 with 14:46 on the clock,
Coppens scored six straight points, hitting a trifecta from the top
of the key after a drive by sophomore Andre Roberson (Springfield,
Mass.) and following with a traditional three-point play after a
dish by senior Florian Rexhepi (Skopje, Macedonia) to put Brandeis
up, 47-37.

The lead ballooned to as much as 16, 59-43 on another traditional
three-point play by sophomore forward Terrell Hollins (Springfield,
Mass.), but Amherst would not go away. The Lord Jeffs scored the
next 11 points, getting within five, 59-54, at the 4:20 mark when
Walters was fouled shooting a 3-pointer and hit all three free
throws.

Brandeis reclaimed momentum when rookie forward Christian Yemga
(Yaounde, Cameroon) banked a 3-pointer off the glass with just five
seconds left on the shot clock. That bucket sparked a 10-1 run over
the next 3:19 that pushed the lead back to 14 points, as the Judges
hit enough free throws to hang on for the 10-point win.

For the game, Brandeis was paced by Coppens, who scored 17 points
on 5-of-10 from the field, 3-of-5 from downtown and four-of-five
from the line. He also led the Judges with 5 assists and pulled
down 7 rebounds. Hill was next in the scoring logs with 15 points,
a career-high. Kevin Olson added 12 points, 8 in the first half,
and Hollins finished with his third double-double of the season
with 11 points and 12 rebounds, including 6 on the offensive glass.
The Judges outscored Amherst, 22-8, from the free-throw line, and
won a 19-9 advantage on points off turnovers. With the win,
Brandeis snaps an 11-game losing streak against Amherst.

Amherst was led by Walters, who finished with 13 points, hitting
five-of-six from the field and three-of-four from the line. Senior
center Kevin Hopkins contributed 12 points, 6 in each half, after
shooting 6-of-8 from the field. Andrew Olson, after a slow first
half in which he had just 1 assist and 1 rebound with no points,
finished with 9 points and 5 helpers. The Lord Jeffs shot 51
percent from the floor (25-49), including 57 percent in the second
half (13-23).